Unraveled
by PabloVotesNo
Summary: AU. Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.
1. Unraveled - Introduction

**Summary: AU.** Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.

**Introduction**

* * *

The class quieted down as small figure climbed through the window, their excitement from graduating dimming as they frowned in confusion. Easily ignoring the stares, Naru shut the window silently behind her, eyes dark as the ocean as they swept over the faces.

"Naru? This meeting is for the graduates only," Ino sneered naturally, a habit she had picked up from the years of taunting the dead last. "So why don't you leave and find-"

"Fuck off," Naru muttered as she brushed past the stunned blonde, "If you can't see the hitaite tied to my fucking forehead, then you clearly need to open your damn eyes." Climbing the steps, she moved until she could collapse into the seat between Choji and Shikamaru. "Morning boys."

Both nodded their heads, smirking openly at the stunned or outraged faces of their graduate class. Stunned because Naru had finally gotten rid of her orange jumpsuit for a more shinobi-like outfit and the outrage, because the females of the class unable to admit they were jealous.

They could see why they were staring though, even though she was no Hinata Hyuuga, Naru Uzumaki was already well-developed in the chest area, her hips already had shape and it seemed she didn't lack the confidence to flaunt it. Especially with black jonin like pants that hung low on her hips, held up only the belt she wore. Kunai pouch strapped to her right thigh, another attached her lower back. Black ANBU issued footwear were secured to her feet.

Naru sighed as she rubbed her temples, Shikamaru snorted at his friend. Of course people were going to stare at her. Her red singlet cut off right above her navel and she had worn something similar to a chunin vest which was unzipped, only in black. The only thing that was remotely orange was her gloves and hitaite which was tied to her head exactly like Zabuza Momochi's she had said the night before, even then the colour was dark and not bright like she was notoriously known for.

"Naru…" Sakura trailed off as she stared at someone she thought was an annoyance, "You look-"

"Like a tramp," Ino lied, annoyed to the max, no one open insulted her and got away with it. "What are you trying to do? Woo Sasuke-kun by dressing like a slut?"

Immediately the room filled with a suppressed rage and the Yamanaka heir reeled back at the cold looks both Shikamaru and Choji sent her. The civilians never being exposed to killing intent before found it hard to stay conscious, the clan born began to sweat a little.

"Shika. Cho," Naru spoke quietly, her voice carrying easily across the classroom, "That's enough." Immediately the feeling of dread disappeared and they could breathe easier, everyone staring at her incredulously, even the Uchiha were finding it hard to believe. Had she not been affected? "Ino, sit down and face the front, I grow tired of your voice and I grow tired of you. Grow up."

"What the hell happened to you?" Sasuke made his thoughts known as he stared at the female. Something had definitely changed and he couldn't pinpoint it. Naru seemed much more controlled, more aware and how the hell did she climb the two storeys to the window? There was nothing she could use to climb up.

"Under the orders of the Hokage, Naru had caught and apprehended traitor, Chunin Mizuki, in attempt to steal the forbidden scroll and betray the village. Due to a mistake made by another Konoha Shinobi, your sensei or ex-sensei, depending on how you look at it was injured. Naru had to make a quick decision, one that forced her to kill the traitor. Not only saving village secrets, but also the life of her sensei. It was troublesome."

"Dad?" Shikaku Nara nodded up at his son, before glancing around the class that was furiously whispering about what they had heard. Some, like Ino Yamanaka and her pink-haired friend, were pale. What was disturbing was the impressed look and flicker of emotion in the Uchiha's eyes, a smirk soon adorned his lips as he glanced at his peer from the corner of eye as he took on a calculated manner.

"My name is Nara Shikaku, I am the Jonin commander of Konohagakure's military forces and head of the Nara clan." His hand twitched as if he was slightly restless, but he shoved his hand into his pocket, "I will be announcing the teams today. Do not argue about the team choices, they were decided by the Hokage and to argue against could be considered treason. Any questions?"

A girl from the middle row raised her hand meekly, "Are you Shikamaru's dad?"

Shikaku tipped his head back lazily and mouthed 'troublesome' to the roof. Naru sniggered quietly with Choji as their friend sent them tired looks. Shikaku shaking his head, probably filled with complaints a mile long and nodded at the girl, before pulling out a sheet of paper from his pouch.

"Alright, let's begin. Team One will consist of…"

Naru shared a look with her friend Shikamaru, his eyes asking her a silent question. _Are the teams the same as before? _Even though she had no idea, Naru nodded. Because she wasn't the Rokudaime Hokage anymore and she wouldn't be for a while. There should be no changes to the timeline, not that it would matter.

Because her and her two friends, they were going to be prepared and there was no way they were going to let Konoha be burned to the ground.


	2. Unraveled - Chapter One

**Summary: AU**. Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.

_"Naru! No!" She crumpled to the ground, hissing as she clamped her hand over her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding feeling Kurama's chakra working furiously. "Naru! Damn it!"_

_"S-Sasuke?" Naru peered at the face above her, two trails of blood streamed down his face, sharingan blazing red. "Your Uchiha is slipping."_

_"Don't dobe, don't joke, you could have been seriously injured," His head shot up as he peered around, shinobi staring at them in concern. Naru was their driving force, their Hokage, she wasn't meant to go down. They needed her, he needed her. "Where the hell is Sakura?!"_

_"I'll be fine Sasuke," How she had managed a smile through the pain was a question he had never been able to answer. "Kurama is healing me already, I'll be fine in a few minutes."_

_"You can't keep pushing yourself like this," Sasuke wasn't one to show emotion, but she could see the fear in his eyes._

_"They need me Sasuke," Naru could feel her stomach muscles stitching together already, "They all do."_

**Chapter One**

* * *

Two pairs of eyes stared at their team mate, who was lazing by the window. Naru cupped her chin as she stared outside, mind lost deep in thought, aware of the looks she was getting from both Sasuke and Sakura. Turning her head, she gave them a closed eye smile she had learned from her sensei in her last life. Could she even call it that?

"Is something wrong?" She knew why they were staring.

She watched as a multitude of feelings cross Sakura's face. Awe. Guilt. Depression. Before she snapped her head away, nose in the air as if Naru wasn't even worth her time. Insecure that Naru, the supposed dead last had achieved something that she knew she couldn't do, Sakura didn't want to acknowledge her. She didn't want to feel worthless. Naru could read it plain on her face.

"You seem different," Sasuke noted, his voice devoid of emotion like usual.

Naru couldn't hide how tired she actually was as she ran a hand over her face, "Seeing yourself killing someone else from 120 different views every time you close your eyes, tends to take its toll."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

Leaning backwards so she could stare at the roof above her, she frowned. She had killed before, she had been at war for years so it was something hard to avoid. But something about this death was disturbing, she had enjoyed the kill. He had hurt Iruka and out of rage she had killed Mizuki and because of this, her rage triggered a lapse in her chakra control. Resulting in 120 views of the same death.

"Yesterday, after my failure I was approached by Mizuki. Who had come up with this excuse of a second graduation exam, if I was able to steal the forbidden scroll from the Hokage's tower and deliver it to him, Iruka-sensei would let me graduate," Naru smirked, "However, he didn't realise that I would take my concerns to the Hokage. The Hokage who was furious. Because of this, assisted by a jonin, we were ordered to capture him."

"What's this got to do with his death?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I'm an Uzumaki. Uzumaki are well known for their longevity, fast healing, fuinjutsu and their potent chakra. My chakra store alone, according to the Hyuuga-sama is almost twice the size of Sandaime-sama's, from here it will only continue to grow. Because of this, my chakra control would never be good enough to be a medical or genjutsu specialist. However, I would be a great combat specialist or a frontline fighter. Because of my large chakra stores, I'll never be able to do a normal bunshin, no matter how many chakra exercises I subject myself to. So Hokage-sama felt it was prudent to teach me the kage bunshin no jutsu. It's a B-rank level clone technique, but it's also a kinjutsu."

"While it is a solid clone, the dangers of creating one is far too high a risk, even for some jonin, most can only make five or ten. By creating a kage bunshin, you are dividing your chakra equally. Which is dangerous, considering the chakra cost in the first place. If both of you were two attempt it, you would land yourself in hospital or worse, the morgue. The benefits of the kage bunshin are good though. Whenever they dispel, their experiences are sent back to the creator. So let's say if I was to create ten clones to practise chakra control, when they dispel, my chakra control would be much better than before."

Sasuke clicked on quickly, "So if you were to witness yourself kill someone from 120 different views all those memories would…"

"Would come back to me," Naru finished softly, a small sad smile gently crossed her face. "It was so bad, I couldn't sleep at all last night-"

"And it kept me up all night, because I was the one watching over her," A bored voice interrupted them, all heads turned in the direction of the door to see a masked man with an orange book in his hand, staring back at them with a faint expression of distaste. "Yo," the other two greeted him cheerfully enough, not even registering that he was three hours late, while Naru just glanced at him with a bored expression. "My first impression of you guys? You're boring. Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

"Well, let's go meet our sensei," Naru cheered with false enthusiasm, Sakura and Sasuke quickly followed behind her. Before they could reach the top though, Naru brought them to a halt. Narrowing her eyes slightly, she brought her hands together and released a burst of chakra, "Kai!"

Immediately the others followed and watched as the image in front of them flickered, exposing the traps their teacher had left behind for them to trip. Kunai exposed, they cut through the traps easily, until they had made it to the roof.

"You saw my traps," Kakashi pouted mockingly through his mask, "You're no fun. First, take a seat on th-"

"Wait," Naru interrupted him, eyes narrowed, "Last night, what was the first thing you said to me after the Hokage had left the room?"

Kakashi nodded approvingly at her question, the room had a silencing jutsu on it and not even the ANBU guarding the door could have heard what he had said once the door had shut. "Congratulations on seeing underneath the underneath. If you were my student, I would be proud."

"Seems like you got your wish," Naru nodded, "It's him, when you sit, make sure he hadn't rigged anymore traps."

"Whatever dobe," Sasuke huffed as he brushed past, but still stopped to study the area before sitting and like clockwork, Sakura followed his lead.

Rolling her eyes, Naru took a seat and stared at her sensei's face, unaccustomed to the lack of age that he exuded, the age she was now used to. Perhaps it was a good thing he was younger, Kakashi had been a force reckoned with. Madara had been the one to strike him down. The entire Shinobi nation had mourned that day. None more so than Team 7.

"Well then, why don't we introduce ourselves, ne?" Kakashi smiled behind his mask at the twelve year olds. "Your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams for the future. That should be enough."

"Um sensei," Sakura gave him a shy look, "Why don't you first."

"You are the unknown," Naru agreed with Sakura.

"Well then. My name is Hatake Kakashi, I am Konoha jonin. I don't feel like telling you likes and dislikes. I have my hobbies. And my dream for the future… huh, guess I don't have one. How about you blondie?"

Naru sighed, "My name is Naru Uzumaki. I like many things ramen being one of the most obvious and fuinjutsu being the least." Kakashi's eyebrow shot up at this, "I dislike many things as well. Such as snakes, traitors and those threaten who are dear to me. My hobbies consist of training, hanging around with Shika and Cho and looking after my plants I guess. My dream, is to protect those who are precious to me, be it as Hokage or a simple shinobi."

"Wow, that was…"

Kakashi cut Sakura off in disbelief, "Quiet." Sasuke only nodded, "Um Pinkie, you next."

Naru glanced away, now uninterested by her future friends introduction. She didn't need to hear it, she had heard all before. Plus it hurt to hear them talk, it brought memories that they had experienced together, were going to experience together. She couldn't say it out loud, but she didn't want to be there. Curling up in her tiny bed, that's how she wanted, her blanket blocking out the rest of the world.

The sooner she could speak to Shikamaru and Choji, the better.

...

"Why did you have to annoy Ino?" Shikamaru groaned as he collapsed onto the ground next to his blonde friend, Choji took his place next to her on the side. "She was bitching all afternoon about you and your ploys to get 'Sasuke-kun'. Tch-"

"How troublesome," Choji and Naruto both cut him off at the same time.

The shadow-user glared at them as they dissolved into laughter, a sombre sound echoing off the trees around them. Things had changed since the war had started, well after they had gotten rid of Obito and was left with Madara. The war had almost torn out their hearts, both figuratively and literally. The ability feel their emotions freely gave them an almost hollow feeling, like they had to know idea what to feel.

His eyes drifted over Choji. Gone was the soft and happy boy. What was left a hardened man, a hardened man that tore his enemies apart with his bare hands, bathing in the blood of his foe. He hadn't cried since Ino had died, their sister who had been torn apart by an overwhelming amount of Zetsu clones.

Naru sighed as she leaned back, noticing Shikamaru's stare, but not commenting. Unlike Choji, Naru had wept. When both Sakura and Sasuke had been killed, the sky wept with her. Her rage was felt for miles, no enemy had stood a chance. Even allies took a step back, horrified/fascinated at the sight before them. Naru made look like an art, every limb moving with a lethal grace.

"It was hard today, y'know?" Naru mumbled quietly, Shikamaru nodded, yeah he knew. "When I see them, all I see are dead shinobi faces. They shouldn't be alive yet they are."

"How was it seeing the Sandaime-sama?" Choji reached into his pouch for a ration bar, it was going to be hard eating a decent meal, they hadn't had one five years. "When you went and saw him yesterday?"

"Easier than seeing the rest," Naru let her head fall onto Shikamaru's shoulder, "I had already gotten used to him being gone, it was the others I couldn't really handle. I made sure my attention wandered, so I wouldn't have to look at them. How was Asuma?"

"Lazy as ever," Shikamaru answered, he refused to fidget as some of Naru's hair tickled his neck, "The man has the making of an S-ranked shinobi, yet he won't get off his ass to try and achieve it." Naru snorted as Choji gave him a deadpanned look. "Hey, I came to my senses quickly."

"It's the curse of peace time," Choji scrunched up the ration bar wrapper and tucked it back into his pouch. "Plus things haven't recovered since Kurama was pulled out Kushina-sama's seal and sent on a rampage. Fucking Uchiha's."

Falling into a comfortable silence, they listened to the sound of the forest surrounding them. Naru bit her lip as a thought crossed her mind. "Hey Shika," She tilted her head to glance up at him, unaware of slight daze and Choji sniggering at his friend. "Do you have any idea why it was you're Dad that announced the teams this morning? Iruka-sensei only had a broken arm, he wasn't mortally wounded."

Shikamaru frowned, he sent a swift glare to Choji who was still trying to stifle his laughter. "I'm guessing Sandaime-sama wanted to see how you were. To him, you had just made your first kill the night before. Unlike Iruka, Dad would have spotted everything and then stated back to the Hokage the cold hard facts. Iruka is insightful, but he would have focused more on the positives, he doesn't want to see anything in the negative."

"He had Kakashi watching me all night," Naru muttered, "I don't feel that I changed that much."

"Not to you, not to us," Choji hummed under his breath, "But to the others you have. You came in through the window, using chakra control you've never had before. You can probably play that off as hiding your abilities. But the behaviour has changed. Anyone could see that, we aren't ourselves anymore. The Hokage probably just wanted to see how you reacted to the others. He was expecting to come barging in and bragging about how you were the best."

"Whatever Cho," Naru blushed, that was exactly what had happened the first time round. But she wasn't going to mention that. She suddenly stiffened, "Incoming signature." Then relaxed, "Ally, it's Anko."

Shikamaru shot to his feet, "Why the hell you relaxed woman? It's Anko! She's dangerous, even when she's on the same side!"

"You're overreacting," Naru rolled her eyes, Choji snickered as he warily got to his feet, "Anko's cool."

"You forget amazingly sexy," Said female dropped down in front of them, playful smirk present as usual. She eyed them carefully, assessing stare lingering on Naru. "You brats realise this is the Forest of Death right? While you're not prohibited from entering Training Ground 44, it's dangerous here. Most don't bother to come near."

"Hence why it's perfect," Naru smirked back, she stood up and stretched. Hands clasped casually behind her head in a carefree manner. "Can't have everyone stealing our training secrets right?" Shikamaru let his palm hit his face as Choji was watching in amusement. "Oh come off it Shika-kun, I'm the Kyūbi jinchūriki, people would freak if they knew I was becoming stronger. They sabotaged me enough in the academy, don't want them targeting me on my own time."

Anko's hand went straight to her kunai pouch, "They know? You know?"

All three of them nodded simultaneously, "I found out last night and I told them this morning."

Shikamaru then narrowed his eyes at the woman, "You're not going to cause any problems are you?" Both boys took a step in front of the blonde girl, each taking a defensive stance. "Because we don't take kindly to others who threaten our friend."

Smirk widening even more, Anko shifted her hand to pull a dango out from her pocket and chewed off a bite of the sweet dumpling. "Nah, it'll cause paperwork that I probably won't even do. I might have to alert Hokage-sama and Ibiki-san to this," She paused taking in their tense postures, "interesting revelation though."

Shikamaru then groaned, "And no doubt it will get back to my dad, troublesome."

"Lazy git," Naru muttered under her breath, earning a dirty look from the Nara. "What, you are!"

"Ne, Naru-chan," His bored features turned evil, "Do you want me to remind you of your first kiss?"

Choji choked on his laughter, Anko grinning at how pale Naru's tanned complexion had become. Naru froze at the memory of Sasuke's lips touching hers and the embarrassing reminder of the muffled groan that had escaped him. They hadn't been able to look each other in the eye for a month.

Grabbing the boy by the front of his shirt, she brought him down to her height so she could glare at him in the eyes, inwardly groaning at how she was still the shortest even when she was the Hokage. "Tell anyone about that and you'll find photos of your birthmark pasted all over the village."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

Glaring at each other for a full minute, Shikamaru was the first to glance away, not missing the triumphant smirk on her face. He kicked the ground, annoyed at the irrational jealousy that flooded him at the memory that had occurred nearly ten years prior. Stupid Uchiha.

"Amusing as this is," Anko chuckled, as she used the dango stick to pick at her teeth, "It's time for you brats to go home. It's almost dark and I don't want two clan heads and the Hokage coming after me, if I left you three here."

"Yeah, yeah," Naru, winked her two trusted friends. "C'mon boys, move out."

She had a genin test to think about.


	3. Unraveled - Chapter Two

**Summary: AU.** Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.

_"Ao-san!" The Kiri-nin straightened up at his name, Naru landed next to him, Kankurō and Lee appearing beside her. The rest of the Shinobi in the area coming to a halt. "How far can you see ahead? Are the Kage's in sight?"_

_"Namikaze-sama!" Ao froze at her glare, "Naru-san." He closed his left eye for a moment and stiffened, "They're 5 clicks north-east, Oto are closing in, Orochimaru in the lead."_

_Naru cursed under her breath, fists clenched. "Damn snake won't die," Whirling around, she turned to her comrades, both waiting for their orders. Kankurō was nursing his side, Lee leaning heavily on his left leg. "You two stay here, help Ao-san and pick off any who try to follow. I need to get out there, they need me."_

_"No!" Kankurō growled, Lee and Ao nodding in agreement, "We need to get to the Valley. You know what will happen if we don't get there in time."_

_"But they-" Naru was cut off by Lee, laying a hand on her shoulder._

_"I understand Naru-chan, it is most unyouthful to leave a comrade behind, but we need to get to the valley. We have our mission and they have theirs."_

_Nails digging into her palms, she hissed and turned her back, "Hurry up then, we don't want to waste time."_

_They watched as she prepared to run, they watched as she burdened herself with guilt that shouldn't have been hers. _

**Chapter Two**

* * *

Naru yawned, arms stretched behind her head as she made her way over to the three stumps. Sasuke was already leaning against the one on the far right. Even though it seemed like he wasn't paying attention to her, he was. He was probably also going over a death plan for his beloved brother, he had admitted that it was once a habit of his when he was younger.

Disturbing, but great for time wasting apparently.

With a leap of faith, Naru landed on top of the middle stump. Carefully moving until she had herself seated with her legs crossed. Amused at Sasuke's expression, she answered his silent question, "I want to make sure that when Sakura comes into the vicinity, I'm not in the way of her target… you."

That and she wanted to meditate.

Narrowed gaze and a grunt to accompany it, Sasuke turned away at her explanation. Smirking, Naru settled once more. Her gaze wandering over everything, memorising everything she could see and seeing potential areas for well hidden traps. Feeling two warm signatures approaching, Naru glanced towards the direction of the village, spying a pink and red dot in the distance.

"Sakura at your 2 o'clock, prepare yourself Sasuke," Naru chuckled under breath, "She's probably going to shriek."

"Don't you want to be her best friend? Shouldn't you be nicer," Naru winced at his question. It was true, at this age the first time round, she had pestered Sakura to be her friend, only to be rejected harmfully on a physical note in reply. It took the Chunin exams for her to calm down and it took Sasuke betraying the village for Sakura to realise that she had been a complete bitch, no matter annoying Naru had been.

"Things can change in one night," Naru replied quietly, her eyes fixed on her hands. "You should understand that the best."

Sasuke stiffened, no doubt from the reminder of the massacre and he gave a minute nod. It wasn't until five minutes later, when their uncomfortable silence was broken by the shriek of Sakura who had immediately latched onto the poor Uchiha, who unsuccessfully tried to shove the pinkette off.

Unfortunately Naru wasn't focused on them, her eyes were focused on the second chakra signature who was hiding in the trees. Her sensing ability had become very useful in the war, something that had developed from using both Sage mode and Bijuu mode as a side effect. What developed from sensing signatures and negative emotions, had evolved into an ability that many trained all their lives to do.

Her chakra spread over the area in a thin layer. She could feel everything with a chakra source within her range, from a plant to a shinobi suppressing their own chakra. After months of work, her chakra layer had been worked so thin, only those who were natural sensors would sense her chakra. Other shinobi, S-ranked or otherwise, had no idea and her ability had become second nature to her.

So Kakashi was watching them and Naru had a feeling that it wasn't the first time had done this. In her past life at least. She had no doubt it would have been entertaining, if not frustrating. With her and Sasuke arguing all the time, then those arguments changing into civil conversations, conversations that seemed to make Sakura jealous. All of it resulted in Naru being hit on the head, whether she deserved it or not. Another reason why she wanted to keep her distance from the girl, at this age, she still acted like a spoilt child, no matter how genuinely nice she could be.

"So Naru," Lazily she tilted her head to glance at the girl, eyes filled with curiosity. "What are you doing up there?"

"I'm about to meditate," Naru explained, "If rumours are anything to go by in this village, then Kakashi-sensei will be late by a few hours." That and apparently she was a demon with nine tails and horns. "So while we're waiting, I'm going to meditate, organise my thoughts and prepare myself for what's to come."

Sakura was silent for moment, before she snorted, "Yeah whatever, you're such a loser."

Naru's eye twitched, holding back the insult she was ready to fire off the tip of her tongue. No, Naru would sit there and show the pink haired brat, that she was the better person. Both off and on duty.

The cow.

Plus she had to plan how to murder a scarecrow, because she could swear he was chuckling.

…

Watching as Kakashi limped back over to the treeline, Naru fell back with a sigh. Sasuke did the same, his eyes never leaving Naru. Expression shifting from cold to calculating. Sakura who was now done with screeching at their sensei, was glaring at the back of her head. Or specifically the bell that was now tied to her ponytail.

Without showing all her cards, Naru had managed steal a bell at the last moment. Originally she wasn't going to, but after being insulted to the brink of wanting to murder her two team mates when asking for their help, she retaliated by doing the one thing they couldn't. Stealing a bell.

Something that Kakashi had congratulated her about, before chewing out the others for not helping her and potentially getting a bell themselves. Hearing a stomach rumble, Naru ignored Sakura who was began grumbling and prepared to eat a rice ball.

"Naru," Sasuke spoke up, "How did you get the bell?"

"Yeah," Sakura sneered in disgust, "How did you get a bell, when Sasuke-kun couldn't get one?"

"Just like how you couldn't get one either?" Naru replied sweetly over her shoulder at the girl, it was low shot that was aimed at her insecurities. But Naru was pissed, how she longed for the more mature Sakura that she knew. The young one was practically begging for her throat to be slit and she felt like crap for even thinking about it. "I let him underestimate me in our first confrontation."

Sasuke nodded and Naru rose to her feet, so she could shove a rice ball into Sakura's mouth, almost causing her to choke. "I'm the dead last, so obviously that helped. By doing that, he wasn't prepared for my second attack. Strategically, I may not be the best, but I know how to set traps from years of pranking. When he was dealing with you, Sasuke, I was henging shadow clones into rocks and sticks all over the place."

Blue eyes met black and she tilted her head slightly, "I knew it was a matter of time before Kakashi came looking for me, so I waited and then created masses of clones to take him on. Distracting him, as poof, a clone from behind struck two nerves in his neck, rendering him paralysed for 3 seconds. Enough time for my clone to steal one bell and throw it to me. Simple, rough around the edges, but apparently effective. Of course, he could have avoided the attack. But I think he let me have this round."

Getting to his feet and ignoring Sakura's squawks about the rules, he offered one of his rice balls to the girl. This Sasuke she could handle, the one who talked tactics, at least until his arrogance reared its head. This was the Sasuke that helped her win battles, one that her idiot younger self had missed because of her loud mouth and temper.

"You know, I can help you guys when he comes back," Naru brought up casually, feeding Sakura bits of a tomato. "I've already got my bell, I can help you get yours. Shouldn't be too hard with all of us working together."

The raven stiffened as it fought against his every instinct, with a frown, he nodded and because her 'Sasuke-kun' agreed, Sakura did too. Even when she sent a petty glare towards the blonde. Humming quietly, Naru pulled out a kunai and sliced through the ropes. Catching Sakura's shoulders so she wouldn't fall on her face.

"So here's the plan," Sasuke mumbled under his breath, "Naru how much chakra-"

"YOU! How dare you!" The genin jumped, Sakura reeling back in fright, Naru and Sasuke pulling out a kunai to defend themselves. Kakashi smiled, "All pass."

Naru kept her kunai raised, her heart racing at his sudden appearance. So caught up in the conversation with Sasuke she had let her guard down. Allowing Kakashi to get the drop on her and her comrades.

In the war, they would have already have been dead.

Deep in thought, she wasn't aware that minutes had passed by and Kakashi was staring at her oddly, "Naru?"

Blinking, she gave him a nod, "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Are you okay?"

Her two team mates were already waiting for them by the memorial stone. Sasuke glancing away from them in classic brood pose number three, yes she had named each pose and Sakura was scowling at them, while sending said brooder longing glances.

"I don't think I trust you enough to honestly answer that sensei," Naru replied quietly out of the corner of her mouth, not missing the surprised look in his eye. "It's nothing personal, there are few I trust."

"So suspicious for a cute little genin," Naru couldn't tell if he was mocking her or interrogating her in a way. "What made my student act in such a way?"

Interrogating, it seemed.

"Have you forgotten what I hold?" Kakashi flinched and Naru had a feeling that he was silently berating himself for the slip up.

"Right, sorry about that," Guilt coloured his tone, even when he tried to hide it. That quickly changed when they came within hearing distance of the stone, "Does anyone recognise what this stone is?"

Naru waited for the others to shake their heads before answering herself, "It's the KIA Memorial Stone, it holds the namse of shinobi who lives were taken in battle or on missions."

Kakashi nodded, "You're right. My best friend's name is on here." He didn't notice Naru's hand clench into fists as he continued to speak. "Those who don't follow the rules are scum." Sakura nodded at this, Sasuke merely lifted his chin, "But those who leave a comrade behind is worse than scum." All three genins eyes widened at the passion behind is words, "That is what I follow, that is what I will teach you."

"So cool," Sakura breathed out and Naru fought her chuckle, that was her the first time round.

"Alright tomorrow, report to the bridge near training ground seven at 0800 hours. From there we will train and then take missions," He grinned evilly, at least Naru was sure that he did, she couldn't tell with him wearing a mask and she had a feeling it had something to do with D-rank missions, it pretty much was a paid vacation for him. "So, shall we go get some lunch eh? My shout."

Raising her arms above her head so she could stretch, Naru gained their attention easily and clasped her hands behind her head in a carefree manner, "Uh I can't, I've already got plans to meet Shika and Cho at Yakiniku Q."

Sakura blinked, she was friends with the lazy duo?

Kakashi's eye quirked into one of his eye smiles, "That's perfect, I hear their sensei loves that restaurant, we'll eat there."

"N-No, that's not what I..." Naru watched as they all began walking in the restaurants direction and she slumped, "meant. Damn it, Shika is going to kill me."

...

"So..." Ino, Sakura and even Sasuke glanced incredulously at Shikamaru, he never initiated conversations, it was apparently too troublesome, "That was a nice lunch huh."

Choji, who had been picking at his food, snorted at his friend and pushed away his plate, reminding himself to force down a proper meal later. He couldn't live on a diet of ration bars forever, "Give it up Shikamaru, you're never been the social type."

Twirling a senbon constantly around her fingers in a show of weapon control, Naru scoffed as she glanced at the other genin opposite them, the girls squirmed under her measuring gaze as the jinchuriki sighed. "It's usually the company though and we're all being forced to sit here with each other," Her gaze flickered to the two Jonin sensei at the end of their table who were diverting their attention between the genin and their bottles of sake, "Because they haven't seen reason to dismiss us yet, despite we're all finished with our food."

"Why can't we dismiss ourselves?" Ino asked, two parts snotty, one part curious.

"We're shinobi," Shikamaru shifted his gaze from Naru to his team mate and leaned forward so he could cup his chin lazily, "We're not civilians, we're apart of a military dictatorship. We go when our commanding officers want us to go and come when they call."

"Chain of command type of bullshit," Naru leaned back into her seat as she waved her hand, almost hitting her shadow using friend in the face, "It's more apparent in war time, but it's good practice for missions. Good habit to practice outside of duty as well. We're pretty much maggots in a spider eat all world." By now she had gathered everyone's attention, especially their Jonin sensei's interest. "Shika's just pissed because we're going to be doing D-ranks and those will be hell."

"You two know a lot about the chain of command," Kakashi eye smiled at the Nara and his blonde companion. "And D-ranks."

"My dad's the Jonin Commander," Shikamaru shrugged.

"I read a book once in awhile and hear things around the village," Naru she glanced at her teacher with a weary gaze, "Plus people like to talk when their lips are loose. There is a district full of loose lips at night. It's not hard to find someone who will spill, especially to one of their own."

The two adults nodded at what she was saying, it was obvious she was talking about the red light district. There was never a thought to where their jinchuriki lived, it would only make sense that she would given a place where the laws didn't really apply to daily life. People would riot if she was to live in the residential districts with the other villagers. Red light district didn't really judge.

Sasuke's eyes widened as her words clicked, "You live in the red light district?"

The two others girls glanced at her in disgust and then pity, Naru shrugged. "Well yeah, nearly all the village orphans do. It's not that bad if you know who and what to avoid."

"B-But it's dangerous!" Never mind the dislike she had for the girl, Ino was horrified at the thought of Naru living by herself in a place that she would never even dream of entering, "You can't keep living there."

"Actually it's one of the safest places you can live," For me at least, Naru added silently and from the looks of understanding on the two adults, plus her two friends faces, they had added that bit in as well, "Cheap places to rent that is easily fixable and can by easily protected by seals. Plus no one will sell you out if undesirable persons come looking, even if they hate you."

"The laws though..." Sakura trailed off, her civilian upbringing taking over.

"Are followed within reason," Naru answered back, "It's hard to get away with anything drastic there, because by the next morning, everyone will know about it. It's the reason why the Hokage leaves it as it is. Mind your own business and they'll mind th-" She froze, her head whipping to the spot next to the two Jonins, her two comrades beside her tensed, as if waiting for an attack.

There was a poof and a masked ANBU stood there in all their glory, "Jonin Hatake and Sarutobi, the Hokage wishes to see you. Now."

The last word seem to be directed at Kakashi who nodded in understanding and turned to his team, "Dismissed."

Naru nodded, her eyes on the ANBU who seemed to watching her as Asuma said some words to his own team. Sasuke and Sakura were already slipping out of their seats. "Are you alright ANBU-san?"

There was a pause, "Hokage-sama also wishes to see you tomorrow after training Uzumaki-san."

"Understood."

The ANBU disappeared with the two Jonin in a puff of smoke and Naru sighed, throwing a few ryo on the table as a tip for their waiter. Nodding her goodbye to the others, she escaped the restaurant, Shikamaru and Choji not too far behind. Quickly and quietly, they moved until they were flanking her, throwing out some glares to passing civilians who were giving her dirty looks.

"How can you condone this Hokage-sama?" Choji asked her under his breath, his glare scaring off a merchant who was also leering at her.

"Because popularity isn't what I'm aiming for," She had no idea where they were heading and it wouldn't be long before Shikamaru would probably take the initiative and lead them to his compound. "At this very moment, I don't care about if they like me or not, I only know that if we don't change somethings, they won't survive what's going to come."

And there Shikamaru was, grabbing her arm and turning right down a street that lead to the Nara compound, "Speaking of surviving, we need to discuss a plan. We can't change everything and there are somethings we can't avoid." Silence, "Like my mother."

Choji snorted and Naru frowned, confused look on her face, "What do you mean?"

"I'm bringing a girl back to my house," He picked up her slender wrist, "One that is entirely too skinny in my, and I can guarantee her, opinion. Oh she's going to have a field day with you."

Horrified, she immediately tried to turn tail and escape, only to be stopped by arms wrapping around her waist and throwing her over their shoulder. Shikamaru of this age was stronger than she thought as she beat his back with her fists. "Shikamaru! No! Let me go!"

"Sorry Naru-chan," He sang back to blonde, not caring about the others who were watching them in confusion or disgust, "You know how my mother is, if I go down, you'll go down with me."

Choji looked amused as Naru continued to struggle, "Shikamaru Nara, once I escape. You're dead. I swear vengeance. Vengeance."

"Careful there, your Uchiha is slipping."

Naru fumed.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry about the wait. To clear some things up. **

**I'm probably going to make mistakes. I'm usually in a rush when I type these, so I'll be missing words and making simple mistakes and I will be too lazy to actually re-read what I wrote. It's sad but unfortunately true, so hopefully you can look past that. Hopefully... Please... Thanks!**

**Um, the pairings are undecided. But it's sort of glaringly obvious in a way, but it won't be easy. But hey, easy is boring. If you have specific questions, please leave it in a review or PM me and check the end of the next chapter, if I don't reply to you personally, to see if I've answered it.**

**The characters are going to be OOC at times, caused by war and because that's how I see them also.**

**This is also an Alternate Universe, so there will be things that are canon and some that is not.  
****Fair warning.**

**So this all I can think of at the moment.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

**Cheers. **


	4. Unraveled - Chapter Three

**Summary: AU. **Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.

_Sakura glanced at her friend in worry, noting the dark circles under her eyes and the dull look that accompanied them. She was overworking herself again, pushing herself to a limit that didn't exist for normal humans, shinobi or civilian. It... was wrong. She couldn't fight the war by herself, powerful or not._

_"Naru you need to rest," The blonde shook her head, "Things won't change over night."_

_Sakura blinked as her Hokage's head turned in her direction, she was waiting for the whiplash. "Things could change overnight. I'm a product of that. The Uchiha massacre is another. We have a history of 'things' happening in one night, Sakura. I don't want more to happen during this war. I only need to map out some safe zones and also remind me to send a toad to Mei-sama in the morning, we need to discuss weapon trading between our two villages."_

_A frown touched the pinkette's lips, "Naru... At least take a soldier pill or half of one. I don't want Kurama to have take control of your body, just so you can get some rest. He was ranting about the stupidity of humanity last time and frankly I agree with him at times."_

_There was a sigh, "I'll be fine, it won't get to that point." A dazed pause and Sakura knew she was listening to the fox, "SHUT UP KURAMA!"_

_Snickering at the blonde, Sakura slipped out of the tent. Naru would be fine._

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was an old man. Still powerful, but an old man nonetheless and some days, he felt even older than he actually was.

"Kakashi, so nice of you to join us," The one-eyed nin smiled in his own special way as he slouched beside his son, the ANBU appearing by the Hokage's side. His dark eyes landed on the shinobi beside him and his chest gave an old repetitive ache, "I see you're beginning to corrupt my other ninja too, see that your habits end with Asuma, it wouldn't help our forces if we were three hours late to the battle field."

"Hai Hokage-sama," Kakashi smiled, at least it sounded like he was, as Asuma scowled at the man.

Nodding, Hiruzen faced the rest of the room, watching as they shuffled under his serious gaze, "I assume you understand why we are here." There was a murmur of agreement, "Then please, report." A jonin stepped forward, one by one each of them reporting their team failures, it wasn't until he heard Kakashi speak, that the room fell silent and his pipe nearly fell out of his hand. "Repeat that again."

"Team Seven, consisting of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naru. Pass," The silver-haired man seemed to smirk.

There was no sound, until Gai seemed to explode with booming laughter, "Yes! My eternal rival has finally followed my youthful footsteps! Konoha will soon be full with flames that cannot be extingui-"

Kakashi picked at his visible ear, "Hmm? You said something?" Bursting into tears about 'hip' and 'coolness', Gai deflated. "What are you even doing here Gai? You already have an active team."

Gai's face grew serious, "Hokage-sama invited me to learn about the others. It seems my team might serve with yours in the future."

Kakashi nodded as Kurenai stepped forward to report her teams passing, Asuma soon following her steps. After dismissing the rest of the room, a tearful Gai going with them, Hiruzen eyed the three newest jonin sensei's as he leaned forward, lacing his hands under his chin, tendrils of smoke rising from his pipe. Sighing, he waved his hand so they could step closer.

"I think this goes without being said, but your teams contain the future clan heads of this village," Eyes narrowed and a warning flash of chakra, his voice was laced with warning, "Do not let anything happen to them. Understood?"

They heard the warning. If anything happened to them, their careers and possibly their lives would come to an end. Fuck up and they were goners. Years of shinobi training forced themselves to stay still under his heavy gaze.

Seeing that his message was understood, Hiruzen shuffled some papers on his desk, "They are our future leaders, train them well. Do not neglect them. Kakashi stay behind. The others are dismissed." Immediately they disappeared in a puff of smoke, probably to steal some time together, he sighed. He wasn't blind like his son thought he was, "Kakashi, I would like to hear of your assessment on Team Seven."

The copy nin nodded, he relayed what happened during the test before starting on what he gathered on them personally, "Haruno Sakura. Intelligent, clever, but too emotional. She doesn't like Naru, refuses to work with her and verbally abuses her if given a chance. She fawns over the Uchiha and is subject to delusions of love. Her stamina is passable, but seems to think that knowing the theory by heart will be enough when she tries to execute it in a practical manner. Her chakra capacity is low, meaning her chakra control will be good. I see the potential in her, we just need to find what will trigger it."

"Uchiha Sasuke. All reports on him are exactly like they said, intelligent and well rounded. But they missed the obvious. He refused to work with the others, his anger clouded his actions and has a superiority complex. His taijutsu is that of veteran genin and his ninjtsu is equal. His genjutsu has not been tested, but considering his clan, I would assume he would be more than passable when it comes to that. Emotionally, he is stunted. He wants no help and relies only himself. He seems to think he can draw power from his anger. He would be great Konoha shinobi, if he would remain loyal to the village and forget about revenge."

Hiruzen nodded, thoughtfully chewing on his pipe. Sasuke was an ongoing problem, the damage his brother had done to him, affected him more than the Hokage wanted to admit. The boy was a potential flight risk, but he was set on being an avenger and if influenced in the right way, he would leave the village to seek power. He needed Kakashi to help the boy to create bonds, but he would think on it later. "And Naru-chan?"

Kakashi rubbed his forehead, "The reports on her are disturbing. I know there would be some who would be set on sabotaging her, but to lie this extent?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. "Naru Uzumaki is not what she appears to be. She is not loud, she is not brash and she thinks before she speaks. She has a talent in ninjutsu if the Kage Bushin is something to go by and her taijutsu is on par with a veteran genin. Strategically her planning is rough, but she comes up with it on the fly and executes well. Her hatred for the Uchiha is exaggerated, she seemed neutral towards him. Reports say she also bugs her other team mate to be her friend constantly, but I've seen no evidence of that. She even seemed to snark at the girl. The reports on her temper is correct though, but from what I see, she has it under control."

Hiruzen eyebrows were raised as the man continued, "She seemed to figure out the idea behind the test and it was only until the others had refused her and then insulted her, that she came after a bell. She knew that I had let her get one in the end. She doesn't trust me, she admitted so afterwards."

Nodding, the elderly leader understood, the girl may have had a smile plastered on her face, but anyone her knew well could see the distrust in her eyes a mile off. She had grown up in the red light district after all, "Anything else?"

There was hesitance, "She admitted to an interest in fuinjutsu and... she knows of the Uzumaki clan."

"...What?" Hiruzen growled out, "How?"

"Yesterday she was explaining to her team mates why she couldn't do a simple bushin and why she was able to do a kage bushin. I only just managed to hear her mention the Uzumaki traits and decided to not make a point, lest she investigated them more, especially the Uzumaki in Konoha," Kakashi explained.

"She would have already investigated anyway," Again his age made him feel so old, the God of Shinobi sighed, "I doubt she would have found anything on Kushina or her link to her. But this is troublesome anyway. I can't deny her birthright if she discovers it all on her own. Maybe, just maybe the Uzumaki heritage will shine through her and we will have another seal master in our forces once again."

"Sir," The jonin fidgeted, "Something felt off about her though."

Off? "Oh?"

"I'm sure she had sensed me when I had first arrived, is it possible she's a sensor?" The Hokage hummed quietly under his breath, it was entirely possible. Not even he knew the extent of Naru's secrets and where she had lived nearly all her life, she would have learned that showing all her cards was a bad idea. "Not only that, but her eyes were old. They were wary and distrustful. They were eyes of a shinobi who had just survived a war. Sir, I don't know if she'll ever trust me."

"She will, after time. The thing is, her life has been hard. She has had her trust thrown back in her face. But earn it and you'll have it for life." He saw Kakashi's eye sadden, he understood, the girl was exactly like both her parents in that aspect. "Just be careful in how you act around her, it might not be obvious but she's a potential flight risk as well. She could disappear and no one could find her. Her daily escapes from the shinobi of this village is proof."

"...Was it safe for her to grow up where she was?"

"Feeling a dead man's remorse or is that your own guilt speaking?" Hiruzen eyes narrowed at the man, who only shrugged, he shifted if only slightly, "I suppose you've heard the story about how she was kicked out of the orphanage when she four?" A nod, "Well that's a lie. That orphanage never existed. Until she was four, Naru was raised in my household. It was fine until a new employee decided to kidnap her and abandon her in the middle of that district. Let's say I've never found a public execution so satisfying until then."

"How is it you found her then?" Kakashi couldn't help but blame himself for this, it was another thing for him to regret.

"Yakuza."

"Yakuza..."

Nodding, Hiruzen turned look out the window, "I've lived a shinobi life Kakashi, I've made friends in all the right places and the wrong ones too. Kaze is an old friend from my times as a genin. He had found the girl and had taken her in, then the next morning come to see me about her. He owed me a favour so I asked him to keep an eye on her when he can. He agreed, he's the one reason I haven't burned that district down. Yakuza maybe a dangerous organisation in the civilian world, but they keep that district in order. In effect, Naru has built ties with his family and probably the future generations to come. Kaze might be getting old, but his world is law as a leader, Naru will always be looked after. That is something I will never feel guilty about."

Kakashi seemed to be shocked as much as veteran shinobi could be, "This team is a set course for disaster."

Hiruzen spared him a smile, "Or it could be the greatest thing to happen to Konoha."

* * *

Shikamaru sighed as lounged back on the grass, Choji collapsed nearby with an amused smile. His eyes darting over to his friend every so often, looking like he was holding back a smirk or a snort. He wouldn't be surprised if the rotund boy/man was, Naru was too troublesome for his own good. One good look and his mother was immediately swept in by Naru's chaotic charismatic nature.

A nature that shouldn't be reckoned with, considering now that the two females were conspiring against him in a troublesome manner.

"Find something funny, Choji?"

"Yeah, your mom and Naru are forces on their own," He snickered and produced some dried fruit from his pack. "Together, I feel for Konoha."

"Just wait until your mom is involved," Shikamaru's lazy smirk turned somewhat evil, "Land of Fire wouldn't know what would have hit them."

Choji sat there for a moment, his left eye twitching in horror at the thought, "Yeah maybe we should delay that meeting. For a couple of years."

There was a nod, "Troublesome women."

Both males froze when a wave of killing intent swept over them. Shikamaru slowly sat upright, fear creeping through the pores of his skin. He hadn't felt this killing intent in years and it was bringing back fond memories of times before the war. A shadow loomed over him and Shikamaru found himself staring at the angry form of his mother. Wooden spoon already in her hand, at least it was better than the occasional rolling pin.

"What was that Shikamaru?" If sugar could deliver a death threat...

"Ne, Yoshino-san?" Naru blinked her big blue eyes innocently from behind his mother as she tilted her head, probably knowingly interrupting his mother from wailing on him, "Is this what you mean by boys are stupid and that I shouldn't let them corrupt my innocence until I've found a boy that you approve of?" Shikamaru blinked and scowled. His mother had said that to her? "Isn't Shikamaru too lazy to corrupt anything?"

Yoshino blinked and stepped away from her son, at least not before shooting him another scowl. "Oh Naru-chan, I have so much to teach you! You don't have to worry about Shikamaru corrupting you, he's just like his father, lazy." Shikamaru, being the observant one that he is, paled when he saw the glint in the Nara Matriarch's eye, the glint of trouble to come. "Plus you need to learn how to handle him right, especially when he goes into one of those 'troublesome' moods."

Shikamaru groaned as Naru cheered loudly and followed his mother back to the house, who had gone into full lecture mode on 'How to handle a Nara male'. Choji, his soon to be ex-bestfriend if he didn't stop laughing, was clutching his stomach on the ground. He had caught the glint in Yoshino's eye too and the sadistic joy that came with playing matchmaker.

"There's no denying it now, you two are destined for each other," There was grunt as Shikamaru skilfully landed a kick on his thigh, "Tch, all I want to know is when's the wedding?"

Sensing his father's approach, Shikamaru just slumped, cheeks tinted, "Troublesome."

"What's troublesome?" Shikaku slouched as he came to a stop in front of his son, the tell tale scent of cigarettes lingered in the air around the Jonin commander.

"Mom's playing matchmaker with Naru," He sighed, craving a cigarette more than anything or perhaps a bottle of sake or two, "And Naru's too naive to realise it." Despite the fact that mentally she's in her early twenties and she was their Hokage. "She probably doesn't realise what she's brought upon herself. It's a drag."

Shikaku wanted to frown at his son, interrogate him on how close he actually was to the Uzumaki girl, before the exams he was sure they had only hung out a few times. Not enough, he knew in Shikamaru's mind, to bring her to his home. His eyes flitted to Choji's face, taking in the faint traces of amusement on a nearly expressionless face. The face of a shinobi. Oh yes, Shikaku wanted to frown with all sorts of question burning in gut and mind, but he knew better than to ask.

It wasn't like his son would give him a straight forward answer anyway.

"Your mother has met Naru?" He wouldn't have been surprised if the woman was smothering the girl right now, the troublesome woman had been bothering him about facing the Council so they could take her in. Something he was sure that Minato and Kushina would be appreciative of. "How did she handle it?"

"Who?"

Naru. Shikaku shrugged, "Both of them."

"Well Mom did that squealing thing that women do when they see something adorable," Shikamaru snorted, "So I'm guessing she handled it fine and Naru, well-"

"She was wary and suspicious, she doesn't trust the _villagers_," Choji pretty much spat out the word, causing the older Shinobi to start in surprise at the usually kind-hearted boy being full of malice. "But after the go ahead from Shikamaru, she was fine."

There was silence as the males enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere of the Nara Compound, until Shikamaru broke the silence, "Why did he do it?" Shikaku, confused, raised a brow in confusion. "The Sandaime, why did he tell the village about the kyuubi being sealed inside of her?" He saw the look on his fathers face, "Don't be shocked, I figured it out a long time ago, she only confirmed it yesterday."

Obviously he wasn't going to mention that he had figured it out during their first Chunin exams, which hadn't exactly happened yet. But at least it was the truth.

Shikaku glanced between both boys, pleased with the fierce loyalty in both their expressions and sighed, "Hokage-sama didn't want to, he knew how the village would react, despite the Yondaime's wishes for her to be seen as a hero. Someone else had let it slip after the Council briefing and the Sandaime had to do what he could to fix the problem. Which unfortunately isn't much."

"So why didn't one of the clans adopt her?" Choji growled, his hand clenching around the empty food packet in his hand. He had a feeling it was one of the Civillian Councilmen, not even Danzo was that stupid enough to spread a secret like that, it compromised the villages safety.

"The clans were banned from adopting her," Shikaku shook his head. "You don't realise this yet, but the Council is all about politics and power struggles. It isn't about one person, it's about the good of the village. People like Naru are thought of as either weapons or monsters. There are few that actually see her as a person. If one clan was to adopt her, then it would seem that clan has more power and other clans who are petty enough to think like this, won't want that. Something simple as that could start a civil war and on top of that, if things go wrong, the Hokage gets the blame for it. You have to remember he has three main groups to keep happy. The clans, the civillians and the shinobi."

"Being Hokage is too troublesome," Shikamaru snorted at the thought of Naru having to deal with shit like that. By the time she was announced Hokage the first time, martial law had already been declared over the village. "Heh, Naru will have fun with the council when she's Hokage."

The Nara Clan head blinked, "Are you sure she will be?" He wasn't too sure about that, from what he had heard the brat was loud and obnoxious. "She was the dead last of your year."

Both the boys chuckled and the Akimichi heir shook his head, "You forget Shikaku-san, Shikamaru was also at the bottom of the class and I'm pretty sure her education was sabotaged. Plus Naru doesn't learn from reading, it helps, but she's more of the hands on approach kind of person."

Interesting. Shikaku shuffled a little and yawned slightly, his mind going over that small bit of information. Clearly, those three were closer than he realised. Close enough that Naru had told them a S-ranked secret, one that they were obviouslyokay with, if being mad at the village for their hatred towards her was something to go by.

"Oh husband," The older Nara froze as his wife's too sweet voice called out to him, "Come over and meet Naru, instead of trying to avoid your responsibilities of being a good host."

Shaking his head at the snickering boys, Shikaku walked over and was greeted with a casual bow, "Nice to officially meet you Nara-sama."

"Don't bother with the bow kid," Shikaku chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his wife, "Or the honorifics, Shikaku is fine."

To her credit, Naru looked horrified. "Uh I don't think I can casually call you that, being the Jonin Commander and all."

Yoshino smirked in approval, oh yes, this girl definitely was the girl for her Shikamaru. She couldn't wait for her dark haired, blue eyed, genius grandchildren. Damn the council if they ever got in her way. They would face the wrath of the Nara Matriarch if they dared to interfere. Shikaku sighed, catching the look on his wife's face. Troublesome.

"Naru," The blonde looked over to her friends, Shikamaru giving her a look, "I thought we were going to train."

"We are," Naru called back, she bowed to the older Nara's, "If you will excuse me, I better go before Shikamaru's motivation decides it wants to watch the clouds again." Both adults snorted and waved her off as she jogged back to her friends. "Ne, Shikamaru, your Mom's nice! And she taught me the trick to getting your lazy ass out of bed! She said it would definitely get you going!"

Choji started snickering as Shikamaru fought a blush at what his mother was trying to imply. Naru wasn't innocent, he knew that even in his past life, but she was still innocent when it came to relationships and missed the social cues that others easily picked up on. "That's... nice?"

"Of course it's nice," Naru snapped as they made their way to the clan's training grounds. "Anyone who get a Nara out of bed quickly is a hero of Konoha. I'm surprised Yoshino-san hasn't been given a medal yet."

"Whatever," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, "What I want to know is what we plan to do. We can't try end a war that hasn't started yet without a plan."

Naru lowered her voice, even though she couldn't sense anyone around. "Well training wise we can't do much, at least not aided by seals. Our bodies aren't up to par with what we're used to and we can't train as hard as we want. Conditioning our bodies is fine, we know how to do that properly at least, attempting too much at once will only have negative side effect. If anything we only need to work on stretching our chakra coils and possibly muscle memory."

Choji nodded, "Chakra control is mental right? We already know how much is needed, it's just our body that needs to catch up. But the only way you can stretch your coils is from use of chakra and I think people will notice if we're firing off jutsu left, right and centre."

Shikamaru shook his head as they entered the training grounds, pleased that no one was using them, "Not necessarily. By circulating your chakra around your body constantly in one direction to warm your coils and then reversing it, forces your coils to stretch quickly. It hurts the first few times you try it, but its better than shooting off random jutsu constantly. Plus it helps improve your chakra control and increases your capacity." He caught their looks, "Sakura explained it once, it was a training method Tsunade-sama made her do, to help prepare to learn how to use her super strength."

"Easy for you to say," Naru shook her head as she began her stretches, "Nara's have great chakra control already. I'm guessing it's going to hurt more for me and Choji, since we naturally have more chakra to force through our bodies."

"You'll be fine," Shikamaru waved her off as he began his own routine, "What I'm worried about is the time line, if too many things are changed then things will become unpredictable. Plus, there are people who can't be saved. What about Sasuke? Are we going to stop him from going to that snake?"

"He did become stronger," Choji pointed out, he was already hating his bodies limitations. He didn't realise he was actually this weak, he could see the same looks on his friends face. "And he did eventually come back to us."

"Yes, but he was only loyal to Naru," Shikamaru pointed out, "He didn't give a rats ass about Konoha. He could have become just as strong if he decided to stay in the village. He let his hate for his brother consume him, no matter if he was affected by the curse mark or not."

"Well let's make sure he isn't bitten," Naru shrugged.

"Can't you just remove it?" Choji asked.

She frowned thoughtfully, "No, I haven't got that far in my studies. I could probably remove Anko's because hers is the the prototype, but not Sasuke's, as his is the finished product. However, I can probably alter it and remove Orochimaru's influence that fucks with the mind. He'll still could turn into that monster thing if he doesn't watch his temper, but at least he'll have full control of his chakra and mind. It'll just be like another kekkei genkai, except hopefully it won't be hereditary."

"That's another thing we have to watch out for," Shikamaru sighed as he listened to her speak, he paused, "Our personalities, we don't match our 12 year old selves. I'm sure I freaked Ino out today when I actually proposed a plan off the bat without complaining first. Even more when Choji turned serious. You can probably get away with it, since no one really knows you out of school. But we can't, at least not with our families."

"We know too much for our own good," Naru sighed, "I say just roll with it, you're pretty good at making excuses up on the spot."

"That's not a very good plan, Hokage-sama," Shikamaru growled.

The blonde rolled her eyes as Choji snorted, "I work better in the moment, you should know this. The planning beforehand is more your thing, it's one of the reasons we survived for so long during the war. Especially when it comes to the specific details. Maybe you could say that deception is a ninja's best tool and the only reason you acted the way you had is because of Ino, her big trap would have spilled the beans, because of some stupid excuse about her 'Sasuke-kun'."

"Still bitter about her calling you a slut?"

"What kind of 12 year old says that shit?" Naru threw her hands up in the air in frustration, as they began to jog lightly around the field, before beginning their respective katas. "I don't even like the guy, at least not this version of him!"

"Not to mention he's such an ass at this age, on top of that you have d-ranks," Choji snickered and then groaned, "We have to do d-ranks as well. Damn it."

Yeah, this was going to be hell.

* * *

**A/N: Filler chapter. Next chapter is going to be more Team 7. It seem like there is some bashing on Sakura. But from Naru's point of view, it's understandable. Because in her mind Sakura is only 12 and more girl than shinobi. **


	5. Unraveled - Chapter Four

**10th Squard 3rd Seat: **Hey sorry didn't reply back earlier. I'm going to tie in who the ANBU is later on in the story. Won't tell you now, but they are important I suppose. So far, I'm still figuring out how to introduce them, I have good idea though. They aren't an OC, you already know them. And yes, Yoshino deserves more than a medal, however I think giving her a key to the village maybe going to far, y'know?

**gaara king of the sand: **Haha, mate I see you have picked up on how I haven't mentioned on how they travelled back in time. It's not going to be easy, it's not going to be anything like Kurama or any other bijuu knowing a jutsu or seal. But Kurama is going to have effect on how they got back. I'm not going to go into all at once, but you will read snippets and get the basic idea of what happens. I'm probably not making sense, but just know that I have an idea and it'll come out into the story when the time is right.

**A/N: **Okay no Team 7 as much, just Kakashi. This chapter is slightly boring I think, another filler. However, next the Wave mission. As for saving Haku and Zabuza, to be honest I'm not worried whether they live or die. I love their characters, but I'm still trying to decide whether they're important enough to the story for them to live. So yeah, pretty much sums it up. Cheers.

* * *

**Summary: AU. **Time couldn't be stopped, but it could be reversed. Naru, Shikamaru and Choji were proof of that. They were also proof that war even corrupted the kindest of people. Sent back to their genin days, they want to be prepared for the 4th War, something that is inevitable. But they now have the chance to make everything right. But hatred lurks everywhere. Beware. Fem!Naru.

_"Sasuke-teme!" Sasuke spun around at the sound of Naru's voice calling out to him... excitedly? "Look what I've got!"_

_Scowling as a journal was shoved into his face, he lightly pushed it away and glared at the happy girl, "Dobe, that's a journal."_

_The eighteen year old blonde nodded enthusiastically, bright smile stretched across her face, unknowingly warming the Uchiha's heart. Pulling it away, she stroked the spine with a fondness rarely seen by others. "It was Ero-sennins," She joined him on his way to the training grounds, her attention focused on the book in her hands, "Bunta-chan gave it to me, he kept a lot of his stuff at Mt Myoboku. This was his before Kurama attacked the village, after the attack he just kind of forgot about it in his grief I suppose."_

_Sasuke was silent for a moment, not unsurprising really, "Did you just call Gamabunta-sama, the boss summon of the Toads, 'Bunta-chan'?"_

_Blue eyes met his own in confusion, "Yeah why?"_

_"...Nevermind," Civilians were giving him wary looks from all directions for walking next to their hero, but he kept his eyes on his female team mate, strange how things had turned around, "What's so important about it?"_

_Clicking her tongue, Naru pushed some stray hairs out of her face, "It has all his notes on seals. At least ones that he was working on. While he wasn't as awesome as Dad, he was brilliant in his own right. It's absolutely amazing and kind of sad that I didn't get to see this side of him often. Mind you, half of the Elemental nations would probably be one large crater if we actually did focus on sealing more."_

_Though he didn't show it, Sasuke agreed silently, Naru Uzumaki was the Shinigami incarnate with a standard exploding tag, with one she created herself or at least modified, the war would have ended quickly, yet both sides would have died. Uzumaki and exploding tags should never be used in the same sentence... unless you're telling someone to run for their lives._

_"And you're telling me this why?"_

_"Teme!" He snorted, same old Naru, "Shut up!" The journal was shoved into his face once more, except now it was opened on a specific page, "This is what I wanted to show you!"_

_Taking the book from her, he was acutely aware of how close she was as she moved closer to look at the page at the same time. He was confused when he felt his heart speed up and quickly looked over the book to distract himself. He then frowned as he read the scrawled kanji, "Past. Guard. Travel? Is this what I think it is?"_

_Naru nodded, her face turning serious, "It's incomplete, but you can see it's potential if it was operational."_

_"What's the cost?"_

_"I haven't figured it out yet, but this could potentially put a stop to everything Sasuke," Naru took the book back from him, "I'll need to do some research and it won't be ready any time soon. But I will finish this seal. Ero-sennin would have wanted me to."_

_"Hn."_

**Chapter Four**

* * *

One bite... It shouldn't be so hard right?

All she had to do was use the chopsticks to put it in her mouth and then move her jaw in a chewing motion. Simple.

"Naru?" The blonde blinked before glancing at her former teacher, "You okay? You haven't touched your ramen and Teuchi-san has told me that you haven't been back since before graduation. Is it because of Mizuki?"

Right... She hadn't been back. How could she say that she associated ramen with death though? Strange as it sounded, when she thought of ramen she thought of old Konoha and when she thought of old Konoha, decaying bodies and crumbling buildings quickly followed. She forced back the bile in her throat, it wouldn't do for her to act like a rookie. Not when she had survived the most bloodiest war since the time of the Sage.

"I don't know," She whispered, Teuchi gave her a sympathetic look, he had been genuinely happy to see her and she had felt bad for not coming back earlier. "He was my first," They all knew she meant her first kill and technically it was true, at least in this body. "I lost a piece of myself." Because he was one kill that she enjoyed and Naru didn't like that.

Teuchi nodded, face solemn and eyes pitying, "It's a tough job."

Both shinobi snorted under their breath and Iruka gave her a weird look when she suddenly stiffened. A moment later someone slid onto the seat beside her and he frowned. Did she not like her new sensei? Were there problems on her team? He gave the man a wary look, Naru had never been a really trusting girl, despite her happy demeanour and what had happened with Mizuki certainly hadn't helped.

"Maa, what's my cute little genin doing here?" Kakashi grinned at his student, Teuchi was giving him a reproachful look, an accusing one also. He had no doubt the man knew exactly whose daughter she actually was, Teuchi might have been just a ramen chef, but his memory was long and his mind was quick. It would be a long time before he would earn the chefs forgiveness. "A late night snack, shouldn't you been in bed?"

"Shouldn't you be in bed old man? You already have the grey hair, is that why you wear a mask, to hide the wrinkles?" Iruka twitched at her retort.

"I wear a mask because I'm devastatingly handsome," Kakashi sniffed as he drummed his fingers on the bench, "My hair's also _silver_, not grey. Don't you need to go change your diaper or something?"

Naru kept a calm expression as she ate her first mouthful of ramen for the first time in four years, "Doubt it, I'm not wearing any underwear."

Their reactions were instantaneous. Iruka turned red and began yelling, his head growing steadily bigger with each word. Kakashi froze, not being able to comprehend what she actually had said, a horrified thought of Minato-sensei coming back from the grave to strangle him for even letting his precious princess say something like that to him was suddenly haunting his mind. Teuchi on the other hand used his ladle as club and hit the blonde genin over her head.

"Young ladies do not speak like that!"

"Ow!" Naru cradled her head, tears leaking out the corners of her eyes. Sure she can be stabbed and laugh it off, but a ladle hitting her and making her cry? Weak. "I was joking! Geez, I say worse crap to Sasuke and all he does is snort! You guys suck!"

Kakashi blinked incredulously, this girl was something else. "Why the hell would you say stuff like that to Sasuke?!"

The girl shrugged as she toyed with her noodles, "The bastard gets me, plus he deals with it on a daily basis with his fangirls. I just try and see if he can handle more dirtier phrases. Did you know Uchiha are really perverted people? You wouldn't think so with their more stoic expressions, but they are. Eight out of ten chances, Sasuke would snap back at me with an even dirtier line. The boy's great at pillow talk. He's the reason Sakura fainted earlier this week and hates me more than usual, she overheard his reply."

While the two other men gaped at the girl, Kakashi winced. His last genin was becoming a sore spot. While she was improving, it wasn't all that much compared to if she focused like the other two. She was the reason their teamwork had been going crap lately, suprisingly not Sasuke and after thee months of her snarky voice being aimed at Naru, Kakashi was wondering if she even had a career in the forces.

"Don't blame her for her attitude," He stilled at Naru's voice, great his genin was a Yamanaka now. "She's still more girl than shinobi. She hasn't been in a situation where her rose tinted glasses have been shattered. Though the Uchiha is blind, I'm not. I see her potential, her control over chakra is amazing. I honestly think she would make a great medic ninja. Not a genjutsu user though, I may see her potential, but she does sort of have the imagination of a rock. Sorry Iwa."

Silence filled the stand, until all three men started chuckling and Naru glanced up with a confused look, "What?"

"Why the hell would you apologise to Iwa?" Iruka swore lightly.

Naru shrugged, "Because they're ninja like us. They may hate Konoha and we may hate them, but we're the same. Plus, I've heard that the old fence sitter is still in the Tsuchikage seat. I think both him and the old man in the tower are having a kage competition. Seeing who could last the longest. Sandaime's retirement period doesn't count."

"Where the hell did you hear that from?" Kakashi breathed, it was no secret that Onoki was still in charge, but that information was hard to come as a chunin, let alone genin. He wasn't suspicious, not like he had been in the beginning, there was something so genuine about her attitude towards Konoha that he knew he could trust her to protect the village.

"I'm starting my own network," The girl shrugged, "Nothing too big. Though with the person I have in mind, it doesn't need to be. He has access to any information, excusing Ame. While I'm all for combat, I need another project other than fuinjutsu. So a spy network will do, plus I never really realised I had the contacts until now." Kakashi saw Iruka stiffened and he realised that the man was well aware of her living situation, he was also clearly not happy about it either, the blonde kept speaking as if she didn't notice, "So that's my plan, build a spy network, not a big one, but big enough to keep an eye on everything."

"Y-You've really changed Naru," Iruka patted his stomach lightly, waiting for her to finish her bowl. Sighing sadly, he chuckled. "I can't help but keep thinking you're still my helpless student, but you're not. You're an adult now, at least officially."

"Necessity Iruka sensei," The smile on her lips was forced and everyone noticed. Ruffling her hair, much to her protests, Iruka threw enough money for both the meals and bid all a goodbye, giving Kakashi a warning glance. The moment she was sure he was out of hearing reach and Teuchi was distracted with the dishes, she spoke quietly under her breath. "Now what did you want to see me about?"

"Your side training with Team Ten," came the clipped response.

Naru sighed, "It's nothing personal. I'm happy to work on our teamwork, but I need to work on everything else. Taijutsu mainly and my chakra control. My chakra control is horrendous." It wasn't true, she knew how much chakra to use, it was the matter of stretching her coils long enough for her to actually use the control. So far the only problem she was having now was fighting on water, the chakra circulation was doing wonders. Despite that it felt like her body was on fire nearly everyday. "But it's the taijutsu I'm worried about. But Yoshino-san is wanting to work on that, but I don't know if the Nara style suits me. While I have the flexibility to pull it off, it's all about control and that's not in my nature. I want to be unpredictable but effective."

The silverette thought on this quietly, "But teamwork is important also."

"But so is individual growth," She pushed the empty bowl forward and sighed, "Your thoughts on teamwork are admiral, and if I ever get a genin team to teach, it is something I would enforce happily, but with a team like us, the other two need to be scared into using teamwork. Sakura is a civillian and doesn't understand the horrors of our world and her obsession with the Uchiha puppet isn't helping. She thinks he will come in and rescue her at the last minute. Sasuke is different, you need to beat it into him that teamwork is what he needs, he only thinks of teamwork as a last resort."

"You seem to know your team very well," Kakashi stored away the question about the 'Uchiha puppet' part for later.

"While you're observant and don't lie, I know you've been studying us some morning while we wait," Naru twitched slightly at the irritation of her sensei being late all the time. "I can sense you waiting in the trees. I notice different things from you."

"Chakra sensor?"

"Not officially," She slipped off her seat, her teacher shadowing her movement. Villagers who were still bustling about were glaring at her, few watching her with indifference and some looking at her in apprehension. She hadn't pulled a prank in ages and it had set them on edge. "I don't mind people knowing, but I rather keep that quiet."

"We need chakra sensors," Kakashi pointed idly, personally though he rather his genin not be taken away from him. Paperwork reasons, not that he actually cared. No, never that. "It's a rare thing."

"Yes," Naru noted, "But would they rather have another sensor or jinchuriki on the front lines? The Council would think that I am of much better use to them there and despite my thoughts on most of the council, I agree." The bloodthirsty smirk she gave him was eerily similar to her mothers he noted and cringed at the thought. No, they didn't need another habanero, even if she was blonde. "Plus if people are going to think of me as a demon, I'm going to give them reason, even if it's only the battlefield."

The ANBU part of Kakashi wanted to grin back, the one that was reckless and got the mission done, but the responsible side of him held back, "Are you sure you want that?"

"When my village is in danger, I'm not going to make friends with the enemy," No, there were just some people she couldn't save. Naru tilted her head, "You walking me home?"

"Checking out the sites and if the sites are in the red light district, I'll just walk that far then."

"If you're worried about the danger of the red light district," Naru rolled her eyes at that, you could find more shinobi in that district than you could in the rest of the village. It was a lawless zone and the shinobi thrived here. A shinobi's guilt ran free. "Then don't be, they won't touch me."

"Oh?"

"I'm one of them, not to mention my extra protection," There was a light smirk as she tapped her headband, eyes forward as they walked, "They don't fuck with ninjas. Even the tiny ones." Her sensei just stared at her and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, noting the amusement in his eye. He was even trying to hide how funny he found that study. "Yeah, go on and laugh, I know I'm short. Just pretend I didn't admit it out loud."

She huffed as he let out a chuckle, some passing shinobi staring incredulously at him. The man never showed his amusement so openly, a chuckle that wasn't bordering menacing, was equal to to others howling with laughter. "So cute."

"Shut up or I won't undo the seals to let you into my apartment."

"I could easily break them, I'm no expert, but I know my way around seals."

"The first set maybe, but I've recently upgraded and now there is a blood component," Kakashi quietly approved as they moved into the darker part of the villager. Seemingly relaxed as they walked, but even Naru could tell he was alert. "I have few people locked into it, I'll add yours once we get there. I have someone to see, you'll welcome to come along. Just don't talk at all." Her sensei grunted, "Good, you'll be my second when it comes to this network."

Kakashi blinked, "What?"

"Networks are a solo business," Naru toyed with the end of her braid, "But I'm allowing you in on this, because there might be times where I'll need you to pick up the information. I'm the village's weapon, there will be times when I'm followed."

Not knowing how to reply to the trust she was clearly showing him, Kakashi nodded. He was touched that she trusted him to this extent. They both kept silent as they entered a marketplace, still running no matter that it was dark.

"-Cheap wares! Finest in Konoha!"

"-For the lovely lady, I'm sure we can find a discount!"

"Miss," Naru's snatched out at a girls wrist as they passed by. Others averted their eyes, they recognised the hitaite and they recognised her. It was none of their business. Reaching into the girls pocket, she picked our her scroll and grinned at the panicking girl, "I think that belongs to me."

Sniffing, the girl scoffed, "I don't know how it got there."

A small smirk crossed Naru's face, it was refreshing having some one trying to pick her pocket, it had been years since someone was brave enough to try, "Sure, just make sure from now on you avoid people wearing these headbands, they'll chop off your hand before you even realise. Understood?"

A small look of fear and frantic nod reassured Naru and she released the girl, letting her melt back into the crowd, not before she shot both her and her sensei scared looks. The girl was good, for a civilian. After a few more mark attempts to which her teacher kept silent, Naru finally made to her destination and took a seat opposite an elderly man with an empty chess board. Without a word, she moved the first piece and watched as he countered, Kakashi standing quietly behind her, eye looking up and down the street.

"What would a girl want with old man like me?" His voice was gravelly, like some one had wanted to shove broken glass down his throat to shut him up. In these parts she wouldn't be surprised. His eyes darted to Kakashi warily. "Don't got no money for you to steal."

"He's good, he knows how to keep a secret and don't act like you don't recognise me Shin," Naru murmured, eyes on the board, "I just want some information. I know for a fact you know everything inside and outside of Konoha. You could be useful."

"Useful? Me?" A toothless grin spread across his face, eyes sharper than kunai focused on her face, "Well now, thanks for the compliment pretty girl."

"Can the bullshit," Naru shifted her knight in a risky manoeuvre, there was no pattern to her plays, "Again you're not fooling me. Helpless old man my ass, you've never been helpless. How's Kaze-jiji? Grumpy as always?"

The old man smirked as he slid his pawn forward, "He's sugary sweet like candy."

"Kaze and sweet don't belong in a sentence together," Naru grumbled, blue eyes flickering up in childish annoyance.

The smirk dropped, "What do you want Naru?"

"Like I said, information. It would be useful in my field of work."

"Ninja huh?" Glance at her hitaite and then at Kakashi's, "I can't say I'm surprised. Decided to drop your mask of stupidity?"

"It wasn't a mask, I was actually stupid."

"What changed?"

Naru's gaze met Shin's, there was no concern, no pity. "I killed a man with my bare hands. A traitor to be exact."

"Not bad," Kakashi flinched as Shin moved his knight, "So you changed in one night, interesting. Not surprised, death does do that to a person. Now you want information."

"I'm willing to pay."

Humming, under his breath, Shin spoke up, "The question is how?"

"It depends on you, if it will get me your trust enough to continue giving me honest information, I'll see what I can do."

"There's word of a bridge being built, Wave are already coming to Konoha for aid, expect them in two days." Shin glanced at Kakashi once more, eyes memorising what he saw. This man would be added to her list of trusted people, since she allowed him to overhear a red light deal and transaction. "There is man working there called Gato. Big money guy, the kind of money that leads to something illegal. He's messing with our business. See that he has a change of heart."

"I see," Naru moved her last knight, effectively winning the game. Standing, she slapped a couple of hundred ryo down on the table. "I'll be going then, we're in agreement?"

"I don't see why not," Naru nodded and went to stand, you never shook hands in the red light district. It was a sign of trust you didn't even offer your own family, "Stay out of trouble Naru, information doesn't always keep you alive."

"Let's just say I have nine tails of insurance to make sure otherwise."

Shin's eyes widened and his face settled into a smirk, "So our little vixen has found out. I had my doubts when Kaze brought you home, I was sure you would be helping the family business, imagine my surprise when Kaze forbid it. Make sure you don't die out there."

Kakashi came to her side and gave him his odd close eyed smile, "We both know the bigger threat is within our walls."

Shin studied the man, before dipping his head, "Aye that is copy-nin." He smirked when Kakashi stiffened, his eye darting to Naru. "Don't be worried about what she knows, I have no doubt she had already done her research on you. The question you should ask now, is what she doesn't know about you." Naru stood easily and she nodded at the man, "I'll be seeing you Naru."

A smirk graced her lips, "Indeed."

* * *

The apartment was silent as she stood by the door flaring her chakra, forcing her security seal to appear. She stroked the bottom of the seal, a small circle forming and she took a step back. Without even being asked, Kakashi moved forward, thumb bloody already. Blood smeared on the seal, there was another flare of chakra, the seal disappeared. Blood and all.

"How do you know we will be getting the mission to Wave?"

Because it has happened once before. "Because from what I hear, Gato is bleeding them dry. That bridge is the one thing he fears, if it were to be finished, the hold he has over Wave will be broken. Wave will want protection and Konoha wants trade, they will come to us. They won't be able to afford anything expensive, so I imagine it'll be a C-rank mission. Perhaps it can be our first."

"You talk like this all too simple," The village had failed her, she wasn't an innocent genin, not when she talked like this. "Gato would have missing nin hired."

"He's a drug lord as well as a megalomaniac," Naru shook her head, "I've seen his type before, money is his lifeline, he'll only hire one small package. We can handle it, if you still feel unsure, ask that we be accompanied by another Jonin or something. At least for this first mission. Make up an excuse, you do have the last loyal Uchiha and the village's jinchuriki, say it's for security measures."

"This is a dangerous game you're playing Naru," He didn't want to endanger his team, not so soon.

"But it's also a great wake up call for them, I have no doubt we'll come together, if it becomes too much for us to handle we'll call for back up."

"Are you willing to accept the consequences if something goes wrong?" If your team mates are killed?

She had been Rokudaime Hokage, she had sent people to their death before, even if she hated it. "With arms wide open."

"Okay then," Kakashi sighed, he couldn't believe he was agreeing to this. He could see the benefits, but this way too dangerous. Sasuke could handle it, Sakura however... But Naru was right, it would open her eyes to the real world, she could no longer be a little girl playing ninja. This was fucked up. "I'll keep my ears open." He glanced at where the seal was, "By the way, who do you have keyed in?"

"The Nara clan head and his wife," Kakashi blinked, they were keyed in. "Mainly because Yoshino-san likes to check up on me and sometimes she forces Shikaku-san to come instead. Their son and Choji Akimichi. Hokage-jiji is another and Anko."

"Anko?" Kakashi's eye twitched, why her?

Naru smirked as she boiled the kettle for tea, "Crazy psycho snake woman has apparently taken a liking to me." He understood the silent message, drunk Anko liked to drop by and raid her fridge, it had happened to Kurenai many times before. "She's not so bad, I like her."

Kakashi's eye twitched even more, "Y-You like her? Why?"

"She's crazy!" Naru grinned and he worried at the feral touch she had added, "Plus she knows a lot of curse words!"

Kakashi sighed, there was no way this could turn out to be good.


End file.
